Method and system for administering life insurance products through classifying insured lives to allocate costs

ABSTRACT

In some embodiments, the instant invention is directed to a computer-implemented method that at least includes: programming a Process Administrator computer system to perform: receiving life insurance data for a plurality of life insurance policies; identifying a life insurance policy that has a catch-up deduction; classifying the insured lives of the life insurance policy into a plurality of insured classes of the insured lives; determining investment amount in a separate account; receiving investment data resulted from investing in an investment option; calculating an investment return amount attributed to the life insurance policy; determining a net investment return amount to be credited to the life insurance policy based on: an insured class, the investment return amount, and the catch-up deduction; and transmitting the net investment return amount so as to result in crediting the net investment return amount to the life insurance policy.

RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the priority of U.S. provisional applicationSer. No. 61/657,522, entitled “METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR ADMINISTERING LIFEINSURANCE PRODUCTS THAT, AFTER ISSUANCE, ADD A FEATURE REQUIRINGADMINISTRATION THROUGH SEPARATE ACCOUNT AND POOLED INVESTMENT OPTIONFUNCTIONALITY,” filed on Jun. 8, 2012, which is incorporated herein byreference in its entirety for all purposes.

TECHNICAL FIELD

In an embodiment, the present invention relates to financial productsand, more particularly, methods and systems for administering lifeinsurance products.

BACKGROUND

For purposes of this disclosure, in some embodiments, the term “Lifeinsurance product(s)” refers to annuities and other life insuranceproducts such as, but not limited to, variable universal life, variablelife, universal life, and traditional (non-variable) whole and universallife products along with any riders.

For example, Bank-owned life insurance (BOLI) and corporate-owned lifeinsurance (COLI) products have been used by banks and corporations tofund employee benefits because of the substantial cost advantages ofthese products. Some BOLI and COLI products can be non-variable lifeinsurance policies which have cash values invested in the insurancecarrier's general account resulting in the policy owner's ability toaccount for their insurance by booking the cash surrender value butbeing exposed to the credit risk of the insurance carrier. FIGS. 1A and1B depict a scenario where Banks A through K purchased non-variable lifeinsurance policies from Insurance Carriers W through Z. The insurancepolicy would be administered on the insurance carrier's system, and allcash value was invested in the insurance carrier's general account.Policy owners would split large purchases between several insurancecarriers in order to limit the credit risk exposure to each. FIGS. 1Aand 1B depict such a split where Bank A purchased policies fromInsurance Carrier W and Insurance Carrier X.

Other BOLI and COLI products can be variable life insurance policieswhich have cash values invested in various investment options of aninsurance carrier's segregated, separate account which is protected fromthe claims of creditors of the insurance carrier. Still other BOLI andCOLI products could have volatility reduction features to investmentoptions in the separate account.

SUMMARY OF INVENTION

In some embodiments, the instant invention is directed to acomputer-implemented method that at least includes: programming aProcess Administrator computer system to perform at least: receivinglife insurance data for a plurality of life insurance policiesassociated with: (i) at least two policy owners, and (ii) at least 3000insured lives and/or at least $500 million of assets; identifying, fromthe plurality of life insurance policies, at least one first lifeinsurance policy that has at least one first catch-up deduction wherethe at least one first catch-up deduction equals at least one firstinsurance cost that exceeds at least one first maximum allowed insurancededuction that is deductible under the at least one first life insurancepolicy; classifying the insured lives of the at least one first lifeinsurance policy into a plurality of insured classes of the insuredlives; determining, based on variable life insurance data of the lifeinsurance data, at least one first investment amount in at least onefirst separate account associated with the plurality of life insurancepolicies identified in the variable life insurance data; receivinginvestment data resulted from investing, in at least one firstinvestment option, at least a portion of the at least one firstinvestment amount; calculating at least one first investment returnamount attributed to the at least one first life insurance policy based,at least in part, on: i) the investment data, and ii) a portion of theat least one first investment amount of the at least one first separateaccount that is attributed to the at least one first life insurancepolicy; determining at least one first net investment return amount tobe credited to the at least one first life insurance policy based, atleast in part, on: i) at least one first insured class from plurality ofinsured classes of the insured lives, ii) the at least one firstinvestment return amount, and iii) the at least one first catch-updeduction; and transmitting the at least one first net investment returnamount so as to result in crediting the at least one first netinvestment return amount to the at least one first life insurancepolicy.

In some embodiments, the Process Administrator computer system isprogrammed to further perform at least: allocating, to the at least onefirst life insurance policy, at least a portion of at least one firstinvestment cost resulting from the investing so as to determine at leastone first net investment return amount based, at least in part, on: i)the at least one first insured class of at least one first insured life,and ii) the investment data, and iii) a first allocation condition thata first sum of the at least one first catch-up deduction and theallocated portion of the at least one first investment cost is greaterthan the at least one first maximum allowed insurance deduction that isdeductible under the at least one first life insurance policy; andwherein the determining, the at least one first net investment returnamount to be credited to the at least one first life insurance policyfurther based, at least in part, on: iv) the first sum of the at leastone first catch-up deduction and the allocated portion of the at leastone first investment cost.

In some embodiments, the determining the at least one first investmentamount further includes deducting, for the at least one first lifeinsurance policy, at least one of: i) the at least one first insurancededuction and ii) at least one transaction amount.

In some embodiments, the determining the at least one first netinvestment return amount to be credited to the at least one first lifeinsurance policy further includes: transmitting at least one first sellinstruction to satisfy the at least one first catch-up deduction, andtransmitting at least one first instruction to utilize an amount of theat least one first catch-up deduction to be deducted from the at leastone first investment return amount for at least one first revenue sharepayment to a life insurance carrier associated with the at least onefirst life insurance policy.

In some embodiments, the at least one investment option comprises anactively managed investment strategy. In some embodiments, the activelymanaged investment strategy comprises at least one pooled volatilityreduction feature. In some embodiments, the determining the at least onefirst net investment return amount to be credited to the at least onefirst life insurance policy is performed within 3 business days afterthe investment data is received.

In some embodiments, the determining the at least one first netinvestment return amount to be credited to the at least one first lifeinsurance policy is performed within 3 business days after theinvestment data is received. In some embodiments, the steps areperformed on a pre-determined periodic time basis. In some embodiments,the steps are performed on each time the life insurance data isreceived. In some embodiments, the life insurance data comprises atleast one of the following: (a) allocations, (b) net premium deposits,(c) loan repayments, (d) partial surrenders, (e) surrenders, (f) loans,(g) death benefits, (h) transfers between investment alternatives, (i)insurance deductions, and (j) catch-up deductions. In some embodiments,the at least one first catch-up deduction is one of the following: (a)cost of insurance deduction, (b) policy fee deduction, (c) per thousandof face amount deduction, (d) percent of cash value deduction, (e) otherdeduction, and (f) rider deduction.

In some embodiments, the at least one first catch-up deduction isderived from a plurality of catch-up deductions that are banded ormodified based on at least one second policy characteristic associatedwith the plurality of life insurance policies. In some embodiments, thedetermining the at least one first net investment return amount to becredited to the at least one first life insurance policy furthercomprises at least one of: changing at least one first interestcrediting rate applied to a cash value of the at least one first lifeinsurance policy; changing at least one first carrier system unit valueor a number of units established by a life insurance carrier for the atleast one first life insurance policy; and changing at least one firstcarrier system cash value of the at least one first particular lifeinsurance policy.

In some embodiments, the instant invention is directed to anothercomputer-implemented method that at least includes: programming aProcess Administrator computer system to perform at least: receivinglife insurance data for a plurality of life insurance policiesassociated with: (i) at least two life insurance carriers, and (ii) atleast 3000 insured lives and/or at least $500 million of assets;identifying, from the plurality of life insurance policies, at least onefirst life insurance policy that has at least one first catch-updeduction where the at least one first catch-up deduction equals atleast one first insurance cost that exceeds at least one first maximumallowed insurance deduction that is deductible under the at least onefirst life insurance policy; classifying the insured lives of the atleast one first life insurance policy into a plurality of insuredclasses of the insured lives; determining, based on variable lifeinsurance data of the life insurance data, at least one first investmentamount in at least one first separate account associated with theplurality of life insurance policies identified in the variable lifeinsurance data; receiving investment data resulted from investing, in atleast one first investment option, at least a portion of the at leastone first investment amount; calculating at least one first investmentreturn amount attributed to the at least one first life insurance policybased, at least in part, on: i) the investment data, and ii) a portionof the at least one first investment amount of the at least one firstseparate account that is attributed to the at least one first lifeinsurance policy; determining at least one first net investment returnamount to be credited to the at least one first life insurance policybased, at least in part, on: i) at least one first insured class fromplurality of insured classes of the insured lives, ii) the at least onefirst investment return amount, and iii) the at least one first catch-updeduction; and transmitting the at least one first net investment returnamount so as to result in crediting the at least one first netinvestment return amount to the at least one first life insurancepolicy.

In some embodiments, the instant invention is directed to a computerizedsystem for monitoring investment trading of shares of at least onemutual fund that at least includes: at least one computer having anon-transient computer tangible readable medium having stored thereonsoftware instructions executable by at least one processor of thecomputer that at least include: code to program a Process Administratorcomputer system to perform at least: receiving life insurance data for aplurality of life insurance policies associated with: (i) at least twopolicy owners, and (ii) at least 3000 insured lives and/or at least $500million of assets; identifying, from the plurality of life insurancepolicies, at least one first life insurance policy that has at least onefirst catch-up deduction where the at least one first catch-up deductionequals at least one first insurance cost that exceeds at least one firstmaximum allowed insurance deduction that is deductible under the atleast one first life insurance policy; classifying the insured lives ofthe at least one first life insurance policy into a plurality of insuredclasses of the insured lives; determining, based on variable lifeinsurance data of the life insurance data, at least one first investmentamount in at least one first separate account associated with theplurality of life insurance policies identified in the variable lifeinsurance data; receiving investment data resulted from investing, in atleast one first investment option, at least a portion of the at leastone first investment amount; calculating at least one first investmentreturn amount attributed to the at least one first life insurance policybased, at least in part, on: i) the investment data, and ii) a portionof the at least one first investment amount of the at least one firstseparate account that is attributed to the at least one first lifeinsurance policy; determining at least one first net investment returnamount to be credited to the at least one first life insurance policybased, at least in part, on: i) at least one first insured class fromplurality of insured classes of the insured lives, ii) the at least onefirst investment return amount, and iii) the at least one first catch-updeduction; and transmitting the at least one first net investment returnamount so as to result in crediting the at least one first netinvestment return amount to the at least one first life insurancepolicy.

In some embodiments, the instant invention is directed to anothercomputerized system for monitoring investment trading of shares of atleast one mutual fund that at least includes: at least one computerhaving a non-transient computer tangible readable medium having storedthereon software instructions executable by at least one processor ofthe computer that at least include: code to program a ProcessAdministrator computer system to perform at least: receiving lifeinsurance data for a plurality of life insurance policies associatedwith: (i) at least two life insurance carriers, and (ii) at least 3000insured lives and/or at least $500 million of assets; identifying, fromthe plurality of life insurance policies, at least one first lifeinsurance policy that has at least one first catch-up deduction wherethe at least one first catch-up deduction equals at least one firstinsurance cost that exceeds at least one first maximum allowed insurancededuction that is deductible under the at least one first life insurancepolicy; classifying the insured lives of the at least one first lifeinsurance policy into a plurality of insured classes of the insuredlives; determining, based on variable life insurance data of the lifeinsurance data, at least one first investment amount in at least onefirst separate account associated with the plurality of life insurancepolicies identified in the variable life insurance data; receivinginvestment data resulted from investing, in at least one firstinvestment option, at least a portion of the at least one firstinvestment amount; calculating at least one first investment returnamount attributed to the at least one first life insurance policy based,at least in part, on: i) the investment data, and ii) a portion of theat least one first investment amount of the at least one first separateaccount that is attributed to the at least one first life insurancepolicy; determining at least one first net investment return amount tobe credited to the at least one first life insurance policy based, atleast in part, on: i) at least one first insured class from plurality ofinsured classes of the insured lives, ii) the at least one firstinvestment return amount, and iii) the at least one first catch-updeduction; and transmitting the at least one first net investment returnamount so as to result in crediting the at least one first netinvestment return amount to the at least one first life insurancepolicy.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present invention will be further explained with reference to theattached figures. The figures constitute a part of this specificationand include illustrative embodiments of the present invention andillustrate various objects and features thereof. Specific functionaldetails disclosed herein are not to be interpreted as limiting, butmerely as a representative basis for teaching one skilled in the art tovariously employ the present invention.

FIGS. 1A and 1B illustrate some typical non-variable life insurancestructure.

FIGS. 2A and 2B illustrate some typical variable life insurance withvolatility reduction feature structure.

FIGS. 3A and 3B illustrate some aspect of process/administrationstructure of some embodiment of the instant invention.

FIG. 4 illustrate some aspects of some other embodiments of theinvention.

FIGS. 5A-5F illustrate processing/administering details related to yetsome other embodiments of the invention.

FIG. 6 illustrates a computer system according to some embodiments ofthe invention.

FIG. 7 illustrates yet another embodiment of the exchange computer andnetwork architecture.

The figures constitute a part of this specification and includeillustrative embodiments of the present invention and illustrate variousobjects and features thereof. Further, the figures are not necessarilyto scale, some features may be exaggerated to show details of particularcomponents. In addition, any measurements, specifications and the likeshown in the figures are intended to be illustrative, and notrestrictive. Therefore, specific structural and functional detailsdisclosed herein are not to be interpreted as limiting, but merely as arepresentative basis for teaching one skilled in the art to variouslyemploy the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Throughout the specification and claims, the following terms take themeanings explicitly associated herein, unless the context clearlydictates otherwise. The phrases “in one embodiment” and “in someembodiments” as used herein do not necessarily refer to the sameembodiment(s), though it may. Furthermore, the phrases “in anotherembodiment” and “in some other embodiments” as used herein do notnecessarily refer to a different embodiment, although it may. Thus, asdescribed below, various embodiments of the invention may be readilycombined, without departing from the scope or spirit of the invention.

In addition, as used herein, the term “or” is an inclusive “or”operator, and is equivalent to the term “and/or,” unless the contextclearly dictates otherwise. The term “based on” is not exclusive andallows for being based on additional factors not described, unless thecontext clearly dictates otherwise. In addition, throughout thespecification, the meaning of “a,” “an,” and “the” include pluralreferences. The meaning of “in” includes “in” and “on.”

Throughout the patent, insurance deduction(s) describe(s) a monetary(e.g., dollar) amount that is subtracted from the cash value on aperiodic basis as specified in the insurance policy contract for a lifeinsurance product. Throughout the patent, insurance cost(s) refer(s) toan expense incurred or profit margin required by the life insurancecarrier for providing the benefit(s) in a life insurance product.

In some embodiments, the invention relates to methods and systems foradministering life insurance products by allocating insurance costsincurred during the life insurance product's existence (e.g., insuranceand/or investment costs, etc.) when those incurred insurance costsexceed maximum allowed insurance deduction(s) that are set in contractsof the life insurance products. In some embodiments, the inventionrelates to methods and systems for administering life insurance productsthat further include separate account investment options as variablecomponent(s).

FIGS. 1A and 1B illustrate a structure of a typical non-variable lifeinsurance product. FIGS. 1A and 1B depict blocks of non-variable lifeinsurance policies bought by banks and issued by various insurancecarriers. Typically, most of those non-variable life insurance policieswere issued beginning in the 1980's and have accumulated substantialinvestment gains. Most of those non-variable life insurance policieswere issued as single premium paid-up life insurance using whole life oruniversal life insurance contracts. Typically, banks own the policies,insure a class of employees in which they had an insurable interest, andcollect the death benefits. Typically, banks would hold those policiesuntil employee's death because surrendering a policy prior to deathcreated a loss on the bank's financial statements, and replacing apolicy was costly and in most circumstances could only be done forinsureds who were still employees due to state insurable interestrequirements. Over time, many insurance carriers typically have beenacquired or have exited the BOLI market and put their blocks of BOLI inrun-off which is an issue for policy owners. Typically, banks have beenunable to replace their existing non-variable life insurance policy witha variable life insurance policy because most insureds are no longeremployed. Updating existing non-variable life insurance policies byadding separate account functionality could result in incurringinsurance costs (e.g., insurance benefit costs, investment fees,transaction fees, etc.) that are not defined or above the insurancedeductions set in the insurance policy contracts of those life insurancepolicies, and further modification to the insurance policy contracts forthose insurance deductions results in an unacceptable change ininsurance status with higher long-term costs to the policy owner.

FIGS. 2A and 2B illustrate a typical variable life insurance productwith volatility reduction feature structure. In some cases, volatilityreduction features were initially designed so the contract only covereda bank's policies issued by a single insurance carrier (see 180). Insome cases, the majority of large bank purchases of BOLI since themid-1990 have been purchases of variable life insurance with volatilityreduction features. In some cases, variable life insurance providesbanks policy owners with an array of investment options tailored tobanks which are segregated in separate accounts and protected from theclaims of creditors of the insurance carrier (see 170). In some cases,this eliminates the credit exposure to the insurance carrier of the bankpolicy owner's cash value. In some cases, variable life insuranceprovides other benefits not found in non-variable life insurance whichmake it a preferred product for bank purchases.

For instance, FIGS. 2A and 2B depict another version of the market whereBanks AA through KK purchased variable life insurance policies fromInsurance Carriers WW through ZZ. In some cases, cash value was investedin various investment options of the insurance carrier's separateaccount, and there was a volatility reduction feature for each bank. Insome cases, the insurance policy would be administered on the insurancecarrier's separate account system. In some cases, these systems couldtypically administer all policy owner transactions including allocatingpolicy owner cash value to multiple investment options as well assupporting the transfer between investment options. In some cases, theytypically would have functionality to deduct all forms of insurancedeductions found in life insurance policies including unique percentageof cash value policy loads from each investment option.

In some embodiments, as detailed herein, the instant invention isapplicable to variable life insurance products associated with at leastone separate account.

In some embodiments, as detailed herein, the instant invention isapplicable to non-variable life insurance products that have beenamended by further including an amendment or life insurance rider thatallows for investment in a separate account. In some embodiments, theamendment or life insurance rider contains variable life disclosures asrequired by requirements of the state of issue of the policy, federalgovernment, and/or industry regulatory agency(ies). In some embodiment,there can be two or more types/forms of the amendment or life insurancerider (e.g., at least one version for Whole Life Insurance Policiesand/or at least one version for Universal Life Insurance Policies).Below are non-limiting examples of the riders for a Universal LifeInsurance Policy and a Whole Life Insurance Policy.

An Example of a Separate Account Investment Option Rider for a UniversalLife Insurance Policy

If [Insurance Company] has approved this rider as a part of this policy,the rider will become a part of the policy. This rider adds sub-accountinvestment options. You may allocate any amount of the cash value ofthis policy to be invested in any sub account described on page [XXX] ofthe [Policy Specifications Pages] subject to any limitations imposed bythe asset manager as noted. The amount or duration of death benefit maybe variable or fixed under specified conditions. Cash values allocatedto a sub-account may increase or decrease in accordance with theexperience of the separate account. The [guaranteed interest creditingrate] is not applicable to amounts allocated to a sub-account, becauseamounts so allocated will vary to reflect the full return of theinvestment experience of the sub-account. The rider is subject to allapplicable terms and provisions of the policy.

Policy Specifications Pages Page [XXX]

The investment options added by the Separate Account Investment OptionRider [UL] are provided through investments in sub-accounts of [SeparateAccount YYY]. [Insurance Company] reserves the right to make additionalseparate accounts or sub-accounts available, to delete separate accountsor sub-accounts, combine separate accounts or sub-accounts, transferassets between separate accounts or sub-accounts, and to make additionsto, deletions from or substitutions for the assets that are held bysub-accounts or that sub-accounts may purchase. Prior notification willbe made to owners. The assets of [Separate Account YYY] shall beavailable to cover the liabilities of the general account of [InsuranceCompany] only to the extent that the assets of the separate accountexceed the liabilities of the separate account arising under thevariable life insurance policies supported by the separate account. Theassets of [Separate Account YYY] shall be valued at least as often asany policy benefits vary but at least monthly.

Allocations to sub-accounts or transfers among sub-accounts must bereceived by [Insurance Company] in writing by 4:00 P.M. Eastern StandardTime on a day the New York Stock Exchange is open for business in orderto be processed on that day. Allocations to and transfers betweensub-accounts are subject to any limitations imposed by the assetmanager, and amounts allocated to sub-accounts may not be transferredout of the separate account without permission of [Insurance Company].Payment of benefits, cash values, policy loans or partial withdrawals(except when used to pay premiums) or partial surrenders may be deferredfor any period during which the New York Stock Exchange is closed fortrading (except for normal holiday closing) or when the Securities andExchange Commission has determined that a state of emergency existswhich may make such payment impractical. Such payments are also subjectto any limitations imposed by the asset manager.

Sub-Account Investment Options in Shares of [“AFA”]

Following is a brief description of AFA sub-accounts. The privateplacement memorandum contains a complete description. Asset ManagementCompany, “AMC”, provides investment management services to [AFA] for thefollowing Sub-Accounts.

-   -   1. AFA Class [ZZZ] AMC Core Fixed Income Securities Sub-Account        seeks high current income consistent with relative stability of        principal. The sub-account seeks to outperform the Barclay's        Aggregate Bond Index over a full market cycle using a risk        managed approach and invests in a diversified portfolio of        investment grade fixed income securities including primarily        corporate bonds, government bonds, asset backed and        mortgage-backed securities.    -   2. AFA Class [ZZZ] AMC Mortgage-Backed Securities Sub-Account        seeks current income consistent with relative stability of        principal. The sub-account seeks to outperform the Barclay's        U.S. Securitized Benchmark over a full market cycle using a risk        managed approach and invests in a diversified portfolio.

Pooled Volatility Reduction Sub-Accounts:

Each Pooled Volatility Reduction Sub-Account invests in a sub-accountdescribed previously and a pooled wrap agreement. The pooled wrapagreement has restrictions to remain in force. All transactionsincluding premium payments, loan repayments, transfers, loans, partialsurrenders and surrenders and death benefit payouts involving a pooledvolatility reduction sub-account may adversely impact the cash value inaccordance to the terms in the pooled wrap agreement. The cash valuewill be the value of the amounts of the remaining securities in thesub-account if the pooled wrap agreement is terminated.

-   -   3. Pooled Volatility Reduction AFA Class [ZZZ] AMC Core Fixed        Income Securities Sub-Account seeks to provide the average        return without market fluctuations of the underlying sub-account        less AFA and pooled wrap agreement expenses. The sub-account        invests in the AFA Class [ZZZ] AMC Core Fixed Income Securities        Sub-Account and a pooled wrap agreement. The Pooled Volatility        Reduction AFA Class [ZZZ] AMC Core Fixed Income Securities        Sub-Account may change the underlying sub-account or investment        allocation per the terms of the pooled wrap agreement. Other        restrictions apply as described in the private placement        memorandum.    -   4. Pooled Volatility Reduction AFA Class [ZZZ] AMC        Mortgage-Backed Securities Sub-Account seeks to provide the        average return without market fluctuations of the underlying        sub-account less AFA and pooled wrap agreement expenses. The        sub-account invests in the AFA Class [ZZZ] AMC Mortgage-Backed        Securities Sub-Account and a pooled wrap agreement. The Pooled        Volatility Reduction AFA Class [ZZZ] AMC Mortgage-Backed        Securities Sub-Account may change the underlying sub-account or        investment allocation per the terms of the pooled wrap        agreement. Other restrictions apply as described in the private        placement memorandum.

An Example of a Separate Account Investment Option Rider for a WholeLife Insurance Policy

If [Insurance Company] has approved this rider as a part of this policy,the rider will become a part of the policy. This rider adds sub-accountinvestment options. You may allocate any amount of the cash value ofthis policy or the cash value of paid-up additions to be invested in anysub account described on page [XXX] of the [Policy Specifications Pages]subject to any limitations imposed by the asset manager as noted. Theamount or duration of death benefit may be variable or fixed underspecified conditions. Cash values allocated to a sub-account mayincrease or decrease in accordance with the experience of the separateaccount. The [Guaranteed Values Table] is not applicable to that portionof the policy cash value allocated to a sub-account because cash valueallocated to the sub-accounts will vary to reflect the full return ofthe investment experience of the sub-account. The death benefitassociated with cash value of the policy or cash value of paid-upadditions allocated to the sub-accounts will equal amounts purchased bythe cash value in the sub-account based on the [Paid-Up Addition TableCash Value Rates]. The rider is subject to all applicable terms andprovisions of the policy. Policy Specifications Pages page [XXX]

The investment options added by the Separate Account Investment OptionRider [UL] are provided through investments in sub-accounts of [SeparateAccount YYY]. [Insurance Company] reserves the right to make additionalseparate accounts or sub-accounts available, to delete separate accountsor sub-accounts, combine separate accounts or sub-accounts, transferassets between separate accounts or sub-accounts, and to make additionsto, deletions from or substitutions for the assets that are held bysub-accounts or that sub-accounts may purchase. Prior notification willbe made to owners.

The assets of [Separate Account YYY] shall be available to cover theliabilities of the general account of [Insurance Company] only to theextent that the assets of the separate account exceed the liabilities ofthe separate account arising under the variable life insurance policiessupported by the separate account. The assets of [Separate Account YYY]shall be valued at least as often as any policy benefits vary but atleast monthly.

Allocations to sub-accounts or transfers among sub-accounts must bereceived by [Insurance Company] in writing by 4:00 P.M. Eastern StandardTime on a day the New York Stock Exchange is open for business in orderto be processed on that day. Allocations to and transfers betweensub-accounts are subject to any limitations imposed by the assetmanager, and amounts allocated to sub-accounts may not be transferredout of the separate account without permission of [Insurance Company].Payment of benefits, cash values, policy loans or partial withdrawals(except when used to pay premiums) or partial surrenders may be deferredfor any period during which the New York Stock Exchange is closed fortrading (except for normal holiday closing) or when the Securities andExchange Commission has determined that a state of emergency existswhich may make such payment impractical. Such payments are also subjectto any limitations imposed by the asset manager.

Sub-Account Investment Options in Shares of [“AFA”]

Following is a brief description of AFA sub-accounts. The privateplacement memorandum contains a complete description. Asset ManagementCompany, “AMC”, provides investment management services to [AFA] for thefollowing Sub-Accounts.

-   -   1. AFA Class [ZZZ] AMC Core Fixed Income Securities Sub-Account        seeks high current income consistent with relative stability of        principal. The sub-account seeks to outperform the Barclay's        Aggregate Bond Index over a full market cycle using a risk        managed approach and invests in a diversified portfolio of        investment grade fixed income securities including primarily        corporate bonds, government bonds, asset backed and        mortgage-backed securities.    -   2. AFA Class [ZZZ] AMC Mortgage-Backed Securities Sub-Account        seeks current income consistent with relative stability of        principal. The sub-account seeks to outperform the Barclay's        U.S. Securitized Benchmark over a full market cycle using a risk        managed approach and invests in a diversified portfolio.

Pooled Volatility Reduction Sub-Accounts:

Each Pooled Volatility Reduction Sub-Account invests in a sub-accountdescribed previously and a pooled wrap agreement. The pooled wrapagreement has restrictions to remain in force. All transactionsincluding premium payments, loan repayments, transfers, loans, partialsurrenders and surrenders and death benefit payouts involving a pooledvolatility reduction sub-account may adversely impact the cash value inaccordance to the terms in the pooled wrap agreement. The cash valuewill be the value of the amounts of the remaining securities in thesub-account if the pooled wrap agreement is terminated.

-   -   3. Pooled Volatility Reduction AFA Class [ZZZ] AMC Core Fixed        Income Securities Sub-Account seeks to provide the average        return without market fluctuations of the underlying sub-account        less AFA and pooled wrap agreement expenses. The sub-account        invests in the AFA Class [ZZZ] AMC Core Fixed Income Securities        Sub-Account and a pooled wrap agreement. The Pooled Volatility        Reduction AFA Class [ZZZ] AMC Core Fixed Income Securities        Sub-Account may change the underlying sub-account or investment        allocation per the terms of the pooled wrap agreement. Other        restrictions apply as described in the private placement        memorandum.    -   4. Pooled Volatility Reduction AFA Class [ZZZ] AMC        Mortgage-Backed Securities Sub-Account seeks to provide the        average return without market fluctuations of the underlying        sub-account less AFA and pooled wrap agreement expenses. The        sub-account invests in the AFA Class [ZZZ] AMC Mortgage-Backed        Securities Sub-Account and a pooled wrap agreement. The Pooled        Volatility Reduction AFA Class [ZZZ] AMC Mortgage-Backed        Securities Sub-Account may change the underlying sub-account or        investment allocation per the terms of the pooled wrap        agreement. Other restrictions apply as described in the private        placement memorandum.

In some embodiments, the instant invention is utilized for separateaccount assets invested in a hold-to-maturity investment strategy forthe individual policy owner.

In some embodiments, the instant invention is utilized for separateaccount variable life insurance policies that employ actively managed(vs. hold-to-maturity) investment strategies where asset managers canbuy and sell securities at their discretion and which generally achievehigher returns but can require more significant asset size (e.g., over$50 million) in order to achieve efficiencies of scale and incorporateactive trading. In some embodiments, policy owners recognize volatileinvestment returns from actively managed strategies due tomark-to-market accounting and those returns can be smoothed out ifvolatility reduction features are incorporated.

For example, in addition to insurance carrier separate account systems,asset managers that managed the various investment options offered by aninsurance carrier had systems that would track the value of the assetsin an investment option. In some cases, asset managers could offerdifferent classes of an investment option, where the difference inclasses was due to different investment or distribution expensesdeducted from the investment return of a portfolio of assets which werepooled for all investors in the particular investment strategy,different amounts of revenue sharing back to the insurance carrier, anddifferent net investment returns.

In some embodiments, the instant invention provides a functionality ofcalculating, by specifically programmed management computer systems,various forms of insurance deductions found in life insurance policiesand to then use them as expenses to form different insured classes ofthe insured lives with different net investment returns (theclassification functionality) when insurance costs exceed maximuminsurance deduction(s) set in the insurance policy contracts.

In some embodiments, the instant invention allows the policy owner toreduce cost that would have been associated with surrendering an olderversion of the product that has gains, and then additional costs withthe purchase of a newer version. Specifically, the instant inventionallows reducing cost that would have been associated with exchanging anon-variable life insurance product for a newer product (e.g.,exchanging a non-variable life insurance product for a variable lifeinsurance product, etc.). Such an exchange can only be done if a bank orcorporation has insurable interest in the insured at the time of theexchange, and in most instances, an exchange cannot be used if theinsured is no longer employed by the bank or corporation. In someembodiments, the instant invention allows to remedy a situation when apolicy amendment can be made or life insurance rider can be added toexisting BOLI and COLI products but regulations limit the amount bywhich the life insurance policy contract can be modified without themodification being deemed a “material change”. For example, in somecases, regulations require that insurable interest requirements again besatisfied upon the event of a material change which again couldgenerally not be satisfied for policies where the insured is no longeremployed by the bank or corporation. For the above described examples,in some embodiments, the instant invention calculates a pro-ratadistribution of insurance costs associated with a plurality of lifeinsurance products based on the classification of the insured lives sothat the insurance cost charges to particular insured live(s)/policy donot exceed particular allowed maximum(s) of insurance deduction(s) setin insurance contract(s) of particular policy(ies).

In some embodiments, the instant invention allows to remedy anothersituation when adding a new investment option is not a material change,but further modifications, such as adding insurance deductions necessaryto administer the new investment option and provide the insurancecarrier revenue would constitute a material change. In some embodiments,the instant invention allows banks and corporations to divest or updatesubstantial amounts of older non-variable life insurance policies byadministering the divested and/or updated products in accordance theembodiments of the instant invention described therein.

For example, in accordance with typical statistics on BOLI that wasreported to bank regulators for the first quarter of 2012, $53 billionof BOLI cash value is invested in non-variable life insurance policies.This amount represents hundreds of thousands of life insurance policiesissued by many insurance carriers. Some embodiments of the instantinvention as detailed herein are directed to addressing the complexitiesassociated with automatic and/or periodic processing of life insuranceproducts of policies issued by many insurance carriers and administeredon diverse non-variable life insurance systems.

Some embodiments of the instant invention as detailed herein allowadministering non-variable and/or variable life insurance policies whichrequire, at a minimum, the ability to perform daily processing andcommunication in order to meet the timing requirements for immediatetrading of securities. For example, typically, variable life insurancepolicy transactions must be received by 4 PM on a business day, andthose transactions along with any insurance deductions for the day mustbe processed and communicated to the investment manager by 10 AM thefollowing business day and in no case later than three business days. Inaddition, corrections to prior processing due to errors or unreporteddeath claims which are reported after the occurrence require undoprocessing back to the time of the occurrence and redo processing to thecurrent time. All prior business day administrative processing andundo/redo processing must be completed over this limited time frame.

In most cases, transaction and insurance deduction processing mayinvolve complex account value calculations involving many insuranceproduct variables. In accordance with some embodiments of the instantinvention, the addition of a separate account option to non-variablelife insurance policies with its associated variable life insuranceprocessing requirement along with additional processing necessary toimplement different classes of a pooled separate account involves amajor increase in calculations and communications over the limited timeframe required for execution.

In some embodiments, the Process Administration System of the instantinvention as detailed herein includes one or more computer/processorswith sufficient computational power to administer, at a minimum, 3000policies and $500 million of assets because of at least one of:

(i) such administration involves multiple insurance carrier systems withdiverse structures in everything from hardware to software;

(ii) there are diverse life insurance products and no insurance industrystandard with respect to life insurance product structure, terminologyor methodology;

(iii) catch-up deductions calculations, representing insurance coststhat are unaccounted for through insurance deductions, are complex andmay involve many other life insurance product variables that must bepassed under time constraints back-and-forth from the insurance carriersystem to the Process Administrator System;

(iv) the Process Administrator System must be as accurate and efficientas, and have at least a processing speed equivalent to, that found ineach insurance carrier system; and

(v) a certain asset size must also be reached in order to realizeimprovements in investment returns that can be achieved using an activeinvestment management strategy versus using a buy-and-hold strategy inorder to justify investing in the pooled investment option.

In some embodiments, the instant invention allows to administer a COLIand/or BOLI product(s) that include(s) a rider that adds at least oneseparate account investment option with or without volatility reductionfeatures. This is not a material change so no new insurable interestrequirements must be satisfied. The instant invention is administeringthe non-variable life insurance products with the at least one separateaccount investment option which are in compliance with all Federaland/or state insurance laws and/or regulations and/or in compliance withFederal securities laws/and regulations. In some embodiments, theinstant invention allows to allocate, through the classification of theinsured lives, any current and/or future insurance costs necessary toadminister the added separate account investment option and/or providethe insurance carrier revenue by reducing the returns of the addedseparate account investment option so that any insurance deductions donot exceed maximum insurance deductions set in a particular insurancecontract of a particular policy.

In some embodiments, the instant invention allows to meet variousinsurance cost and/or revenue requirements by creating different classesof a pooled separate account investment option by classifying insuredlives. In some embodiments, the invention can be used for multiple lifeinsurance carriers and/or multiple non-variable life insurance products.In some embodiments, the processing necessary to administer anon-variable life insurance policy with at least one separate account(i.e., the variable option) with or without volatility reductionfeatures is provided by a specifically programmed computer system of theinstant invention (Process Administrator computer system), and originalsystem processing at the policy carrier level can be retained withlittle modification. In some embodiments, the Process Administrator ofthe instant invention can also provide administrative support for theasset manager and/or the volatility reduction feature provider.

Some embodiments of the instant invention are described in FIGS. 3A and3B. In such embodiments, 190, 200 and 210 of FIGS. 3A and 3B representthe addition of new funds with pooled volatility reduction features. Inthis embodiment, 220 depicts the administration provided by the ProcessAdministrator of the instant invention.

FIG. 4 depicts another embodiment of the invention. In some embodiments,the invention includes, in combination with multiple life insurancecarrier systems that do not have separate account functionality, amethod for administering multiple variable life insurance products withpooled volatility reduction features.

In some embodiments, the method includes administering a non-variablelife insurance policy that has been in effect for a period of time whichadds a life insurance rider having separate account investmentoption(s), with or without pooled stability reduction feature(s), buthas no other provisions that could be deemed material changes.

In some embodiments, the inventive method includes implementing theProcess Administrator System that, in conjunction with the lifeinsurance carrier system that does not have separate accountfunctionality, and the asset manager and pooled volatility reductionprovider systems, provides a method for administering a variableinvestment feature/option.

In some embodiments, the method includes repeating the method amongmultiple insurance carriers with in force blocks of multiplenon-variable life insurance products having variable investmentfeatures/options. In some embodiments, the method includes repeating themethod among multiple insurance carriers with in force blocks ofmultiple variable life insurance products.

In some embodiments, the administration of the instant invention allowsto administer policy owner transactions that may be distributed amongthe different investment options in which the policy owner has allocatedits cash value. For example, the non-variable life insurance product wasoriginally set-up to be administered on the life insurance carriersystem that did not have separate account functionality and cash valueprocessing would be applied to a single investment option, the generalaccount. In some embodiments, the Process Administrator system of theinstant invention will add the functionality of allowing cash value tobe invested in multiple investment options by distributing each policyowner transaction among the various investment options and tracking andstoring the results. In an embodiment, at the time the investmentoptions are added, the initial policy owner transaction can allocate allor a portion of the cash value to one or more of the new separateaccount investment options. In some embodiments, later policy ownertransactions impacting cash value may include, but are not limited to,reallocations and transfers, net premium deposits, loan repayments,partial surrenders, surrenders, loans and death benefits.

In some embodiments, a life insurance carrier's non-variable lifeinsurance policy has an interest crediting rate and insurance deductionstructure which can be used to administer the separate account productcreated when the variable rider is added to the policy. In someembodiments, the interest crediting rate and insurance deductionstructure of carrier may include, but is not limited to, interestcrediting rates, cost of insurance deductions, per policy deductions,per $1000 of face amount deductions, percent of premium deductions,percent of cash value deductions and other deductions. In someembodiments, the maximum allowable insurance deduction stated in thepolicy allows for some, but not all, insurance costs associated withseparate account investment options including, but not limited to,investment management fees, investment expenses, pooled volatilityreduction feature fees, and life insurance carrier interest spreads,profits and expenses.

In other embodiments, the instant invention allows the administrationwhen a life insurance carrier's non-variable life insurance policy mayhave no specific interest crediting rate or insurance deduction defined,but instead has a schedule of cash values which reflect such components.In some embodiments, total cash value may be reflected as a number ofcarrier system units times the cash value per carrier unit in a schedulein the insurance policy contract and possibly additional amountscredited through dividends and refunds as, for example, in the case ofwhole life policies.

In some embodiments, the instant invention allows the administration ofthe policy amendment and/or rider through the classification-basedallocation so that such policy amendment and/or rider do/does not addspecific insurance deduction(s) and/or other provisions potentiallyrequired to administer separate account investment options because doingso may represent a material change.

In some embodiments, separate account investment option returns may bemodified and/or administered by the Process Administrator to reflectcatch-up deductions which may include, but are not limited to,deductions in the form of cost of insurance deductions, percent of cashvalue deductions, per policy deductions, per $1000 of face amountdeductions, rider deductions and other deductions potentially requiredto administer a life insurance policy, and additional fees and expensesassociated with investments in the separate account and the pooledvolatility reduction feature.

In some embodiments, the instant invention allows the administrationwhen catch-up deductions may be banded so they vary by size. In someembodiments, the instant invention allows the administration whenmodified separate account investment option returns are reflected asdifferent classes of the investment option.

In some embodiments, processing consistent with variable life productsfollows the results from the embodiments described above. As noted inFIG. 4, in some embodiments, a file sharing method can be implementedbetween the life insurance carrier system, the Process Administrator ofthe instant invention, the asset manager and/or the pooled volatilityreduction provider. In some embodiments, the life insurance carrierpasses to the Process Administrator the prior cash value, carrier systemunits and cash value per carrier unit, policy owner transactions,interest crediting rate and/or insurance deductions applied by theinsurance carrier system and catch-up deductions on a periodic basis.

In some embodiments, the Process Administrator processes each among thedifferent investment options and calculates revised cash values,investment option market value units, investment option stable valueunits and/or investment option unit values, if necessary, and createsaccounting records. In some embodiments, specific items in the catch-updeductions are calculated and processed with deductions in the form ofcost of insurance deductions, percent of cash value deductions, perpolicy deductions, per $1000 of face amount deductions, rider deductionsand/or other deductions potentially required to administer a lifeinsurance policy used for revenue sharing back to the insurance carrier,fees and expenses associated with investments in the separate accountused for asset manager payments, and/or pooled volatility reductionfeature fees used for pooled volatility reduction provider payments. Insome embodiments, the Process Administrator stores records, andcommunicates information using the file sharing method, as necessary, tothe life insurance carrier system, the asset manager and/or the pooledvolatility reduction provider.

In some embodiments, the Process Administrator System of the instantinvention, based on the determined classification of the insured livesand/or the allocation of catch-up deductions, prepares trade and/or wireinstructions automatically and/or periodically for each investmentoption of the separate account and automatically and/or periodicallypasses the prepared information to each respective asset manager via thecomputer file sharing method. In some embodiments, the ProcessAdministrator also tracks shares and/or share price for each investmentoption and/or for each class.

In some embodiments, the Process Administrator System periodicallycalculates interest crediting rates for each investment option of theseparate account with a pooled volatility reduction feature for thepooled volatility reduction feature provider based on the classificationof the insured lives. In some embodiments, Process Administrator Systemalso calculates pooled volatility reduction feature surrenderpayment(s).

In some embodiments, the present invention may include a method andsystem for administering life insurance products as detailed herein atthe asset manager level so that the life insurance carrier can continueadministration on its system with minimal or no enhancements.

FIGS. 3A and 3B illustrate the administration structure of someembodiments of the instant invention. FIGS. 3A and 3B depict theadministration of non-variable life insurance using the methods andsystems of various embodiments of the invention.

In some embodiments, 190 represents the policy amendment or rider thatadds separate account investment options to the non-variable lifeinsurance policy, but doesn't make any other modifications that would bedeemed material changes. In some embodiments, 200 represents twoseparate account investment options added by the rider. In someembodiments the number of separate account investment options added bythe rider may be one, two, or more. In some embodiments, the separateaccount investment options depicted are pooled accounts, where allinvestor assets are combined and managed together, and where differentclasses are offered to policy owners to accommodate the reduction in thepooled separate account investment option return due to the subtractionof policy owners' catch-up deductions. In some embodiments, 210represents pooled volatility reduction features and volatility reductionfeatures offered on each investment option. In some embodiments, novolatility reduction features are present. In some embodiments, 220represents the system and administration support provided by the ProcessAdministrator of the instant invention for the benefits offered in 190,200 and 210.

FIG. 4 depicts the Process Administrator System's interactions withmultiple life insurance carriers, asset managers and volatilityreduction providers in accordance with some embodiments of the instantinvention. In some embodiments, the Process Administrator computersystem utilizes insurance processing functionality of the instantinvention with respect to investment options in a life insurance policy,by, automatically and/or periodically, receiving necessary data from therespective parties, processing the data, and communicating results back.

FIGS. 5A-5F illustrate some aspects of processing/administrating detailsrelated to some embodiments of the instant invention. For example, FIGS.5A-5F summarize the additional processing/administration brought aboutby the addition of the separate account amendment or rider. In someembodiments, 230 depicts the impact on the life insurance carrier'snon-variable system. In some embodiments, 240 depicts the processingprovided by the Process Administrator and how it applies to theinsurance carrier, asset manager, and/or pooled volatility reductionprovider. In some embodiments, 250 depicts the impact on the assetmanager.

In some embodiments, 230.1 a describes policy owner transactions whichin some embodiments apply to both whole life and universal lifeinsurance products. Numbers in the same row, (e.g., 230.1 b, 240.1 a,240.1 b, 240.1 c and 250.1), describe method and system processingrequired in some embodiments to handle policy owner transactions.

The following examples, in accordance with some embodiments of theinstant invention, use terminology in FIGS. 3A, 3B and 5A-5F assuming alife insurance policy issued by Insurance Carrier W to Bank A where allcash value is allocated to Pooled Investment Options A and B and bothinvestment options use the pooled volatility reduction feature.

Example 1

Bank A policy owner requests a $50 partial surrender with $25 fromInvestment Option A and $25 from Investment Option B. Insurance CarrierW processes the partial surrender into its system in 230.1 a. Thepartial surrender is passed to the Process Administrator in 230.1 b. In240.1 a, the Process Administrator of the instant invention processesthe $25 Investment Option A partial surrender by calculating the numberof Market Value Class AWA units the $25 represents based on currentMarket Value Class AWA unit values and deducts this number of units fromthe policy owner's Market Value Class AWA units. This process isrepeated for Stable Value Class AWA units, and similarly repeated forInvestment Option B. The Process Administrator processes all Bank Apolicy owner transactions for the day, calculates total inflows andoutflows for policy owner transactions in each investment option,calculates the number of shares the total inflows and outflows representusing current share price for each investment option, and prepares tradeorders for redemption or purchase of shares for each investment option.In some embodiments, the Process Administrator of the instant inventionprepares and stores accounting records for each policy transaction, andresults are passed to Insurance Carrier W, Asset Managers A and B,and/or the Pooled Volatility Reduction Provider.

230.2 a and 230.3 a, describe system processing for universal lifeinsurance products. Other numbers along the same rows describe methodand system processing required for these products.

Example 2

Suppose Insurance Carrier W issued a universal life product and itssystem processes a $2.50 monthly per policy deduction and a $55 monthlycost of insurance deduction from a Bank A policy total cash value in230.2 a. The insurance deductions along with directions to allocate themproportionately to the cash value in each investment option are passedto the Process Administrator in 230.2 b. In 240.2 a, the ProcessAdministrator processes the $2.50 monthly per policy deduction and $55monthly cost of insurance deduction by allocating them proportionatelyto the cash value in each investment option. If the policy has 25% ofits cash value in Investment Option A, then 25% of each deduction issubtracted from the policy's cash value in Investment Option A bycalculating the number of Market Value Class AWA units the 25% of $2.50monthly per policy deduction represents and the 25% of $55 monthly costof insurance deduction represents based on current Market Value ClassAWA unit values and deducts these two amounts of units from the policyowner's Market Value Class AWA units. This process is repeated forStable Value Class AWA units, and similarly repeated for InvestmentOption B.

In some embodiments the Process Administrator of the instant inventionprocesses all Bank A insurance deductions for the day, calculates totalinflows and outflows for insurance deductions in each investment option,calculates the number of shares the total inflows and outflows representusing current share price for each investment option, and prepares tradeorders for redemption or purchase of shares for each investment option.Accounting records are prepared and stored for each insurance deduction,and results are passed to Insurance Carrier W, Asset Managers A and B,and the Pooled Volatility Reduction Provider.

Example 3

Suppose Insurance Carrier W issued a universal life insurance productand realizes a gross return on their general account assets used to setthe interest crediting rate for cash value in the general account forthis product at an annualized rate of 6%. Insurance Carrier W requires a1% spread to cover certain insurance costs so they set the interestcrediting rate to 6%−1%=5% (i.e., the contract required interestcrediting rate). This is described in 230.3 a. The only insurance costsnot recovered elsewhere in the product with insurance deductions are:

(i) the interest spread of 1% to cover expenses and profits,

(ii) Investment Option A asset management expenses of 0.15% andInvestment Option B asset management expenses of 0.20%, and

(iii) pooled volatility reduction feature fees of 0.25%.

The above unallocated insurance costs are passed to the ProcessAdministrator in 230.3 b. In 240.3 a, based at least in part on theclassification of the insured lives, the Process Administrator reducesthe returns for Bank A in its Class AWA and Class BWA investment optionsby the appropriate catch-up deductions representing the previouslyunallocated insurance costs.

For Class AWA, the gross investment return of Pooled Investment Option Ais reduced for catch-up deductions by a return for the period assumingthe annualized reduction is the sum of the annualized spread, InvestmentOption A asset management expense and pooled volatility reductionfeature fee for a reduction of 1%+0.15%+0.25%=1.4%. In some embodiments,this reduction could be reflected as a reduction of the appropriateamount for the period in the Market Value Class AWA unit values, oralternatively, the reduction could be reflected as a reduction in theMarket Value Class AWA units.

In some embodiments, the catch-up deductions are similarly deducted fromthe stable value interest crediting rate to modify Stable Value ClassAWA unit values, or alternatively, Stable Value Class AWA units. Similarprocess is repeated for Investment Option B. In some embodiments,revised cash values can be calculated by using the product of the stablevalue units times the stable value unit values.

In some embodiments, based at least in part on the classification of theinsured lives, the Process Administrator processes all other bank'scatch-up deductions for the day, calculates total inflows and outflowsfor catch-up deductions in each investment option, calculates the numberof shares the total inflows and outflows represent using current shareprice for each investment option, and prepares trade orders forredemption or purchase of shares for each investment option. In someembodiments, the Process Administrator of the instant invention,prepares and stores accounting records for catch-up deductions, andtransmits stored information to Insurance Carrier W, Asset Managers Aand B, and/or the Pooled Volatility Reduction Provider. If InsuranceCarrier W requires a revised interest crediting rate to be used forcalculations on its system with the total cash value of a policy, basedat least in part on the classification of the insured lives, the ProcessAdministrator of the instant invention calculates on a policy-by-policybasis an interest crediting rate equaling a linear combination of StableValue Class AWA and Stable Value Class BWA returns weighted byproportion of cash value in each investment option and passes the resultback the Insurance Carrier W.

In 240.3 b and 240.3 c, the Process Administrator tracks Market ValueClass AWA units and/or unit values, and Market Value Class BWA unitsand/or unit values for the Asset Managers for administration of classesof Pooled Investment Options A and B, and processes catch-up deductionsas shares are redeemed for revenue sharing back to Insurance Carrier W,payment of investment option asset management expenses, and/or pooledvolatility reduction feature fees. 230.4 a describes system processingfor whole life insurance products. Other numbers along the same rowdescribe method and system processing required for these products.

Example 4

Suppose Insurance Carrier W issued a whole life product. There are nospecified insurance deductions defined in the insurance contract. Thecash value is scheduled and equals a net single premium assuming 4%interest and 80 CSO mortality, with additional amounts credited througha dividend. Insurance Carrier W makes assumptions for allocatinginsurance costs such as mortality costs, other benefit costs, andexpenses to the policy when creating the dividend. The total insurancecosts assumed in the dividend equals a spread of 2% of the cash valuefor a particular Bank A policy. This is described in 230.4 a. The profitand expenses needed to be recovered with catch-up deductions are (i) thespread of 2%, (ii) Investment Option A asset management expenses of0.15% and Investment Option B asset management expenses of 0.20%, and(iii) pooled volatility reduction feature fees of 0.25%. The catch-updeductions are passed to the Process Administrator in 230.4 b along withcarrier system units and cash value per carrier unit if such amountsneed to be adjusted for Insurance Carrier W's system.

In 240.4 a, based at least in part on the classification of the insuredlives, the Process Administrator reduces the returns for the Bank Apolicy in its Class AWA and Class BWA investment options by theappropriate catch-up deductions. For Class AWA, the gross investmentreturn of Pooled Investment Option A is reduced for catch-up deductionsby a return for the period assuming the annualized reduction is the sumof the annualized spread, Investment Option A asset management expenseand pooled volatility reduction feature fee for a reduction of2%+0.15%+0.25%=2.4%.

In some embodiments, such reduction could be reflected by the ProcessAdministrator of the instant invention as a reduction of the appropriateamount for the period in the Market Value Class AWA unit values, oralternatively, the reduction could be reflected as a reduction in theMarket Value Class AWA units. In some embodiments, the catch-updeductions are similarly deducted by the Process Administrator of theinstant invention from the stable value interest crediting rate tomodify Stable Value Class AWA unit values, or alternatively, StableValue Class AWA units. This process is repeated for Investment Option B.

In some embodiments, the Process Administrator of the instant inventioncalculates revised cash values by using the product of the stable valueunits time unit values. In some embodiments, classes for theclassification can be defined for a single policy, or policies can begrouped together for determining a class. In some embodiments, based atleast in part on the classification of the insured lives, the ProcessAdministrator processes all other bank's catch-up deductions for theday, calculates total inflows and outflows for catch-up deductions ineach investment option, calculates the number of shares the totalinflows and outflows represent using current share price for eachinvestment option, and prepares trade orders for redemption or purchaseof shares for each investment option. In some embodiments, the ProcessAdministrator of the instant invention, prepares and stores accountingrecords for catch-up deductions, and transmits stored information toInsurance Carrier W, Asset Managers A and B, and/or the PooledVolatility Reduction Provider. If Insurance Carrier W requires revisedcarrier system units and/or cash value per carrier unit for the policy,based at least in part on the classification of the insured lives, theProcess Administrator of the instant invention reduces by carrier systemunits and/or cash value per carrier unit to the appropriate value sothat their product equals the revised cash value after deduction ofcatch-up deductions and transmits the result back the Insurance CarrierW.

In 240.4 b and 240.4 c, the Process Administrator tracks Market ValueClass AWA units and/or unit values, and Market Value Class BWA unitsand/or unit values for the Asset Managers for administration of classesof Pooled Investment Options A and B, and processes, based at least inpart on the classification of the insured lives, catch-up deductions asshares are redeemed for revenue sharing back to Insurance Carrier W,payment of investment option asset management expenses, and pooledvolatility reduction feature fees.

It should be noted that a person having ordinary skill in the art wouldrecognize that there are many variations of these products to which theinventive administrating is applicable such as product(s) thatinclude(s) a blend of what has been described for the universal lifeinsurance product and whole life insurance products above.

Example 5

In some embodiments, based at least in part on the classification of theinsured lives, the Process Administrator of the instant invention tracksand stores market value and stable value over all policies in the pooledvolatility reduction contracts and calculates the stable value creditingrate for the pool in 240.5 b. For example, suppose the total marketvalue of assets for all policies under Pooled Volatility ReductionContract A (“MV”) is $100 million, and the total stable value for allsuch policies (“SV”) is $101 million, the yield to worst maturity(“YTM”) is 6% for Pooled Investment Option A, and its duration (“D”) is3. In some embodiments, the Process Administrator calculates the StableValue Crediting Rate for Pooled Volatility Reduction Contract A usingformulas prescribed by the stable value provider which may follow a formsimilar to the following:

Interest=(1+YTM)*(MV/SV){circumflex over ( )}(1/D)−1

Interest=(1+0.06)*(100,000,000/101,000,000){circumflex over( )}(1/3)−1=5.65%

Illustrative Operating Computer Environments in Accordance with SomeEmbodiments

FIG. 6 illustrates a computer system in accordance with some embodimentsof the present invention. However, not all of these components may berequired to practice the invention, and variations in the arrangementand type of the components may be made without departing from the spiritor scope of the invention. In some embodiment, the inventive exchangesystem hosts a large number of members and concurrent transactions.

In other embodiments, the inventive exchange computer system is based ona scalable computer and network architecture that incorporates variesstrategies for assessing the data, caching, searching, and databaseconnection pooling. An example of the scalable architecture is anarchitecture that is capable of operating multiple servers. Inembodiments, the computing system in accordance with the instantinvention may include, but not limiting to, one or more programmedcomputers, systems employing distributed networking, or other type ofsystem that might be used to transmit and process electronic data.

In embodiments, client devices (e.g., computer systems of insurancecarrier(s), asset manager(s), and/or volatility reduction provider(s))602-604 include virtually any computing device capable of receiving andsending a message over a network, such as network 605, to and fromanother computing device, such as servers (e.g., the ProcessAdministrator) 606 and 607, each other, and the like. In embodiments,the set of such devices includes devices that typically connect using awired communications medium such as personal computers, multiprocessorsystems, microprocessor-based or programmable consumer electronics,network PCs, and the like. In embodiments, the set of such devices alsoincludes devices that typically connect using a wireless communicationsmedium such as cell phones, smart phones, pagers, walkie talkies, radiofrequency (RF) devices, infrared (IR) devices, CBs, integrated devicescombining one or more of the preceding devices, or virtually any mobiledevice, and the like. Similarly, in embodiments, client devices 602-604are any device that is capable of connecting using a wired or wirelesscommunication medium such as a PDA, POCKET PC, wearable computer, andany other device that is equipped to communicate over a wired and/orwireless communication medium.

In embodiments, client devices 602-604 are further configured to receivea message from the another computing device employing another mechanism,including, but not limited to email, Short Message Service (SMS),Multimedia Message Service (MMS), instant messaging (IM), internet relaychat (IRC), mIRC, Jabber, and the like.

In embodiments, network 605 is configured to couple one computing deviceto another computing device to enable them to communicate. Inembodiments, network 605 is enabled to employ any form of computerreadable media for communicating information from one electronic deviceto another. Also, in embodiments, network 605 includes a wirelessinterface, and/or a wired interface, such as the Internet, in additionto local area networks (LANs), wide area networks (WANs), directconnections, such as through a universal serial bus (USB) port, otherforms of computer-readable media, or any combination thereof. Inembodiments, on an interconnected set of LANs, including those based ondiffering architectures and protocols, a router acts as a link betweenLANs, enabling messages to be sent from one to another.

Also, in some embodiments, communication links within LANs typicallyinclude twisted wire pair or coaxial cable, while communication linksbetween networks may utilize analog telephone lines, full or fractionaldedicated digital lines including T1, T2, T3, and T4, IntegratedServices Digital Networks (ISDNs), Digital Subscriber Lines (DSLs),wireless links including satellite links, or other communications linksknown to those skilled in the art. Furthermore, in embodiments, remotecomputers and other related electronic devices could be remotelyconnected to either LANs or WANs via a modem and temporary telephonelink. In essence, in embodiments, network 605 includes any communicationmethod by which information may travel between client devices 602-604,and servers 606 and 607.

FIG. 7 shows another exemplary embodiment of the exchange computer andnetwork architecture that supports a computer exchange system inaccordance with some embodiments of the instant invention. The clientdevices 702 a, 702 b thru 702 n (e.g., computer systems of insurancecarrier(s), asset manager(s), and/or volatility reduction provider(s))shown each comprises a computer-readable medium, such as a random accessmemory (RAM) 708 coupled to a processor 710. The processor 710 executescomputer-executable program instructions stored in memory 708. Suchprocessors comprise a microprocessor, an ASIC, and state machines. Suchprocessors comprise, or are be in communication with, media, for examplecomputer-readable media, which stores instructions that, when executedby the processor, cause the processor to perform the steps describedherein. Embodiments of computer-readable media include, but are notlimited to, an electronic, optical, magnetic, or other storage ortransmission device capable of providing a processor, such as theprocessor 710 of client 702 a, with computer-readable instructions.Other examples of suitable media include, but are not limited to, afloppy disk, CD-ROM, DVD, magnetic disk, memory chip, ROM, RAM, an ASIC,a configured processor, all optical media, all magnetic tape or othermagnetic media, or any other medium from which a computer processor canread instructions. Also, various other forms of computer-readable mediatransmit or carry instructions to a computer, including a router,private or public network, or other transmission device or channel, bothwired and wireless. The instructions comprise code from anycomputer-programming language, including, for example, C, C++, C#,Visual Basic, Java, Python, Perl, and JavaScript.

Client devices 702 a-n also comprise a number of external or internaldevices such as a mouse, a CD-ROM, DVD, a keyboard, a display, or otherinput or output devices. Examples of client devices 702 a-n are personalcomputers, digital assistants, personal digital assistants, cellularphones, mobile phones, smart phones, pagers, digital tablets, laptopcomputers, Internet appliances, and other processor-based devices. Ingeneral, a client device 702 a is any type of processor-based platformthat is connected to a network 706 and that interacts with one or moreapplication programs. Client devices 702 a-n operate on any operatingsystem capable of supporting a browser or browser-enabled application,such as Microsoft™, Windows™, or Linux. The client devices 702 a-n showninclude, for example, personal computers executing a browser applicationprogram such as Microsoft Corporation's Internet Explorer™, AppleComputer, Inc.'s Safari™, Mozilla Firefox, and Opera.

Through the client devices 702 a-n, insurance carrier(s), assetmanager(s), and/or volatility reduction provider(s) 712 a-n communicateover the network 706 with each other and with other systems and devicescoupled to the network 706. As shown in FIG. 7, server devices 704 and713 (e.g., the Process Administrator) are also coupled to the network706.

Of note, the embodiments described herein may, of course, be implementedusing any appropriate computer system hardware and/or computer systemsoftware. In this regard, those of ordinary skill in the art are wellversed in the type of computer hardware that may be used (e.g., amainframe, a mini-computer, a personal computer (“PC”), a network (e.g.,an intranet and/or the internet)), the type of computer programmingtechniques that may be used (e.g., object oriented programming), and thetype of computer programming languages that may be used (e.g., C++,Basic, AJAX, Javascript). The aforementioned examples are, of course,illustrative and not restrictive.

In some embodiments, the instant invention is directed to acomputer-implemented method that at least includes: programming aProcess Administrator computer system to perform at least: receivinglife insurance data for a plurality of life insurance policiesassociated with: (i) at least two policy owners, and (ii) at least 3000insured lives and/or at least $500 million of assets; identifying, fromthe plurality of life insurance policies, at least one first lifeinsurance policy that has at least one first catch-up deduction wherethe at least one first catch-up deduction equals at least one firstinsurance cost that exceeds at least one first maximum allowed insurancededuction that is deductible under the at least one first life insurancepolicy; classifying the insured lives of the at least one first lifeinsurance policy into a plurality of insured classes of the insuredlives; determining, based on variable life insurance data of the lifeinsurance data, at least one first investment amount in at least onefirst separate account associated with the plurality of life insurancepolicies identified in the variable life insurance data; receivinginvestment data resulted from investing, in at least one firstinvestment option, at least a portion of the at least one firstinvestment amount; calculating at least one first investment returnamount attributed to the at least one first life insurance policy based,at least in part, on: i) the investment data, and ii) a portion of theat least one first investment amount of the at least one first separateaccount that is attributed to the at least one first life insurancepolicy; determining at least one first net investment return amount tobe credited to the at least one first life insurance policy based, atleast in part, on: i) at least one first insured class from plurality ofinsured classes of the insured lives, ii) the at least one firstinvestment return amount, and iii) the at least one first catch-updeduction; and transmitting the at least one first net investment returnamount so as to result in crediting the at least one first netinvestment return amount to the at least one first life insurancepolicy.

In some embodiments, the Process Administrator computer system isprogrammed to further perform at least: allocating, to the at least onefirst life insurance policy, at least a portion of at least one firstinvestment cost resulting from the investing so as to determine at leastone first net investment return amount based, at least in part, on: i)the at least one first insured class of at least one first insured life,and ii) the investment data, and iii) a first allocation condition thata first sum of the at least one first catch-up deduction and theallocated portion of the at least one first investment cost is greaterthan the at least one first maximum allowed insurance deduction that isdeductible under the at least one first life insurance policy; andwherein the determining, the at least one first net investment returnamount to be credited to the at least one first life insurance policyfurther based, at least in part, on: iv) the first sum of the at leastone first catch-up deduction and the allocated portion of the at leastone first investment cost.

In some embodiments, the determining the at least one first investmentamount further includes deducting, for the at least one first lifeinsurance policy, at least one of: i) the at least one first insurancededuction and ii) at least one transaction amount.

In some embodiments, the determining the at least one first netinvestment return amount to be credited to the at least one first lifeinsurance policy further includes: transmitting at least one first sellinstruction to satisfy the at least one first catch-up deduction, andtransmitting at least one first instruction to utilize an amount of theat least one first catch-up deduction to be deducted from the at leastone first investment return amount for at least one first revenue sharepayment to a life insurance carrier associated with the at least onefirst life insurance policy.

In some embodiments, the at least one investment option comprises anactively managed investment strategy. In some embodiments, the activelymanaged investment strategy comprises at least one pooled volatilityreduction feature. In some embodiments, the determining the at least onefirst net investment return amount to be credited to the at least onefirst life insurance policy is performed within 3 business days afterthe investment data is received.

In some embodiments, the determining the at least one first netinvestment return amount to be credited to the at least one first lifeinsurance policy is performed within 3 business days after theinvestment data is received. In some embodiments, the steps areperformed on a pre-determined periodic time basis. In some embodiments,the steps are performed on each time the life insurance data isreceived. In some embodiments, the life insurance data comprises atleast one of the following: (a) allocations, (b) net premium deposits,(c) loan repayments, (d) partial surrenders, (e) surrenders, (f) loans,(g) death benefits, (h) transfers between investment alternatives, (i)insurance deductions, and (j) catch-up deductions. In some embodiments,the at least one first catch-up deduction is one of the following: (a)cost of insurance deduction, (b) policy fee deduction, (c) per thousandof face amount deduction, (d) percent of cash value deduction, (e) otherdeduction, and (f) rider deduction.

In some embodiments, the at least one first catch-up deduction isderived from a plurality of catch-up deductions that are banded ormodified based on at least one second policy characteristic associatedwith the plurality of life insurance policies. In some embodiments, thedetermining the at least one first net investment return amount to becredited to the at least one first life insurance policy furthercomprises at least one of: changing at least one first interestcrediting rate applied to a cash value of the at least one first lifeinsurance policy; changing at least one first carrier system unit valueor a number of units established by a life insurance carrier for the atleast one first life insurance policy; and changing at least one firstcarrier system cash value of the at least one first particular lifeinsurance policy.

In some embodiments, the instant invention is directed to anothercomputer-implemented method that at least includes: programming aProcess Administrator computer system to perform at least: receivinglife insurance data for a plurality of life insurance policiesassociated with: (i) at least two life insurance carriers, and (ii) atleast 3000 insured lives and/or at least $500 million of assets;identifying, from the plurality of life insurance policies, at least onefirst life insurance policy that has at least one first catch-updeduction where the at least one first catch-up deduction equals atleast one first insurance cost that exceeds at least one first maximumallowed insurance deduction that is deductible under the at least onefirst life insurance policy; classifying the insured lives of the atleast one first life insurance policy into a plurality of insuredclasses of the insured lives; determining, based on variable lifeinsurance data of the life insurance data, at least one first investmentamount in at least one first separate account associated with theplurality of life insurance policies identified in the variable lifeinsurance data; receiving investment data resulted from investing, in atleast one first investment option, at least a portion of the at leastone first investment amount; calculating at least one first investmentreturn amount attributed to the at least one first life insurance policybased, at least in part, on: i) the investment data, and ii) a portionof the at least one first investment amount of the at least one firstseparate account that is attributed to the at least one first lifeinsurance policy; determining at least one first net investment returnamount to be credited to the at least one first life insurance policybased, at least in part, on: i) at least one first insured class fromplurality of insured classes of the insured lives, ii) the at least onefirst investment return amount, and iii) the at least one first catch-updeduction; and transmitting the at least one first net investment returnamount so as to result in crediting the at least one first netinvestment return amount to the at least one first life insurancepolicy.

In some embodiments, the instant invention is directed to a computerizedsystem for monitoring investment trading of shares of at least onemutual fund that at least includes: at least one computer having anon-transient computer tangible readable medium having stored thereonsoftware instructions executable by at least one processor of thecomputer that at least include: code to program a Process Administratorcomputer system to perform at least: receiving life insurance data for aplurality of life insurance policies associated with: (i) at least twopolicy owners, and (ii) at least 3000 insured lives and/or at least $500million of assets; identifying, from the plurality of life insurancepolicies, at least one first life insurance policy that has at least onefirst catch-up deduction where the at least one first catch-up deductionequals at least one first insurance cost that exceeds at least one firstmaximum allowed insurance deduction that is deductible under the atleast one first life insurance policy; classifying the insured lives ofthe at least one first life insurance policy into a plurality of insuredclasses of the insured lives; determining, based on variable lifeinsurance data of the life insurance data, at least one first investmentamount in at least one first separate account associated with theplurality of life insurance policies identified in the variable lifeinsurance data; receiving investment data resulted from investing, in atleast one first investment option, at least a portion of the at leastone first investment amount; calculating at least one first investmentreturn amount attributed to the at least one first life insurance policybased, at least in part, on: i) the investment data, and ii) a portionof the at least one first investment amount of the at least one firstseparate account that is attributed to the at least one first lifeinsurance policy; determining at least one first net investment returnamount to be credited to the at least one first life insurance policybased, at least in part, on: i) at least one first insured class fromplurality of insured classes of the insured lives, ii) the at least onefirst investment return amount, and iii) the at least one first catch-updeduction; and transmitting the at least one first net investment returnamount so as to result in crediting the at least one first netinvestment return amount to the at least one first life insurancepolicy.

In some embodiments, the instant invention is directed to anothercomputerized system for monitoring investment trading of shares of atleast one mutual fund that at least includes: at least one computerhaving a non-transient computer tangible readable medium having storedthereon software instructions executable by at least one processor ofthe computer that at least include: code to program a ProcessAdministrator computer system to perform at least: receiving lifeinsurance data for a plurality of life insurance policies associatedwith: (i) at least two life insurance carriers, and (ii) at least 3000insured lives and/or at least $500 million of assets; identifying, fromthe plurality of life insurance policies, at least one first lifeinsurance policy that has at least one first catch-up deduction wherethe at least one first catch-up deduction equals at least one firstinsurance cost that exceeds at least one first maximum allowed insurancededuction that is deductible under the at least one first life insurancepolicy; classifying the insured lives of the at least one first lifeinsurance policy into a plurality of insured classes of the insuredlives; determining, based on variable life insurance data of the lifeinsurance data, at least one first investment amount in at least onefirst separate account associated with the plurality of life insurancepolicies identified in the variable life insurance data; receivinginvestment data resulted from investing, in at least one firstinvestment option, at least a portion of the at least one firstinvestment amount; calculating at least one first investment returnamount attributed to the at least one first life insurance policy based,at least in part, on: i) the investment data, and ii) a portion of theat least one first investment amount of the at least one first separateaccount that is attributed to the at least one first life insurancepolicy; determining at least one first net investment return amount tobe credited to the at least one first life insurance policy based, atleast in part, on: i) at least one first insured class from plurality ofinsured classes of the insured lives, ii) the at least one firstinvestment return amount, and iii) the at least one first catch-updeduction; and transmitting the at least one first net investment returnamount so as to result in crediting the at least one first netinvestment return amount to the at least one first life insurancepolicy.

While a number of embodiments of the present invention have beendescribed, it is understood that these embodiments are illustrativeonly, and not restrictive, and that many modifications may becomeapparent to those of ordinary skill in the art. Further still, thevarious steps may be carried out in any desired order (and any desiredsteps may be added and/or any desired steps may be eliminated).

What is claimed is:
 1. A computer-implemented method, comprising:electronically receiving, by a specifically programmed ProcessAdministrator computer processor executing software specificallyprogrammed to perform the method, life insurance data for a plurality oflife insurance policies; wherein the specifically programmed ProcessAdministrator computer processor is a processing unit of a networkedcomputer device specifically dedicated to execute the software which hasbeen specifically programmed to perform the method; automaticallyidentifying, by the specifically programmed Process Administratorcomputer processor, from the plurality of life insurance policies, atleast one first life insurance policy that has at least one firstcatch-up deduction where the at least one first catch-up deductionequals at least one first insurance cost that exceeds at least one firstmaximum allowed insurance deduction that is deductible under the atleast one first life insurance policy; automatically classifying, by thespecifically programmed Process Administrator computer processor, theinsured lives of the at least one first life insurance policy into aplurality of insured classes of the insured lives; automaticallydetermining, by the specifically programmed Process Administratorcomputer processor, based on variable life insurance data of the lifeinsurance data, at least one first investment amount in at least onefirst separate account associated with the plurality of life insurancepolicies identified in the variable life insurance data; andautomatically instructing, the specifically programmed ProcessAdministrator computer processor, to transfer the by the at least onefirst investment amount into the at least one first separate account.